How Children Learn to Read

How Children Learn to Read

            While there are many models and theories of how children learn to read, this paper will focus on the model set forth by Dr. Jeanne Chall.  Dr. Chall is one of the world’s foremost experts on reading development.  Chall put forth a model of reading development that consists of six critical stages.   The stages are: Stage 0 (up to age 6), Stage 1 (grades 1-2), Stage 2 (grades 2-3), Stage 3 (Phase A, Grades 4–6; Phase B, Grades 7–8 and/or 9), Stage 4 (high school), and Stage 5 (18 years old and up).  Her philosophy is that reading development begins at birth and continues into adulthood.  These stages depend on scaffolding and the skills of each stage require mastery of the stage before it.

            While Chall broke down the progression of learning to read into steps, she was clear that the ages and grades at which these stages occur are approximate.  Likewise, the reading stages are not independent or separate, they flow together and overlap.  The speed and depth at which a child develops reading skills depends upon the instruction that is provided in both the classroom and at home.  Most importantly perhaps is that a child’s development at each stage is dependent upon adequate development at the prior stages. For instance, how well a child’s reading develops in Stage 1 depends upon how well the child mastered the development of language in Stage 0, and so on.             

            Stage 0 (birth to age 6) is comprised in large part of knowledge, understanding, and use of spoken language.   In this stage a child learns and gains control of words.  Control of words and sentence structure begins to develop.  It is at this stage that children begin to become aware that some words sound the same at the beginning and that some words rhyme with each other.  They also learn at this stage that words can be broken down into parts and that these parts when put together make up words.  This is also the stage that the majority of children first begin to understand print.  They will learn the letters of the alphabet at this stage and even be able to print their names.  They will learn how to hold a book upright at this stage.  The most advanced children at this stage may even be able to point to a word on a page and say the word.  Reading to children is crucial for them to obtain the necessary skills to progress through this stage.

            In the next stage, Stage 1, which generally occurs during grades 1 and 2, children will deepen their understanding of the letters of the alphabet.  They will also, at this stage, understand the relationship between the letters and their corresponding sounds. Before moving from this stage into the next, children will have a basic understanding of spelling.  Instruction of decoding skills is crucial to the progression of the reading development of children through this stage. 

            During Stage 2 (Grades 2–3) of Shall’s stages, children strengthen their skills in the first two stages and are able to read stories.  Decoding of larger, more complex words begins to take place in this stage and children are able to digest stories with more robust vocabulary.   Children start to be able to read aloud in a smoother, more fluent way that begins to sound less segmented and more like talking.   Practice with oral reading is key at this particular stage of reading development.

            Shall viewed Stages 1 and 2 collectively as the crucial learning to read period.  Children at this stage are beginning to recognize words quickly and are not completely focused on each individual word separately.  They are starting to absorb the expression, tone, and feeling in what they read.  Their cognitive capacity has been freed up to process the meaning of the text and comprehension begins to take place.  Children at this stage are beginning to learn from their reading.

            Stage 3 (Phase A, Grades 4–6; Phase B, Grades 7–8/9) is the stage in which children begin to truly absorb new information and meaning in what they are reading.  Readers at this level are widening their vocabulary and building their background knowledge.  In Stage 3, children are beginning to broaden the types of materials they are reading and starting to include textbooks, encyclopedias, and magazines.  The range of topics is expanding as well.   Reading at this stage is geared toward ideas, facts, and determining how to do something.  The major difference between Phase A and Phase B of this stage is in the narrating.  Children in Phase A are mostly reading material with only one viewpoint whereas Phase B involves text with multiple viewpoints.  It is at this stage of reading development that children truly begin to analyze their reading and criticize statements, claims, and opinions in what they read.

            In Stage 4 (High School), students are met with the challenge of dealing with many viewpoints in their reading.  The topics they read about become much more in depth and require more reading comprehension skill and strategies.  Students at this level will begin to make and judge their predictions more often.  In this stage of reading development, practice of efficient reading is an absolute must.

            At Stage 5 (Age 18 and up), readers become very selective about the material they read and choose material that specifically serves the purposes of their reading.  Besides knowing what to read, these readers know what not to read and are extremely efficient with their selections.  They constantly analyze, criticize, and make predictions about what they read.  Readers at this stage create knowledge and understanding from their reading.

CHALL’S READING DEVELOPMENT STAGES & NRP CORE COMPONENTS

STAGE	GRADE/AGE	MILESTONES	FOCUS ON	NRP CORE COMPONENT
0	0-6 YEARS	SPOKEN LANGUAGE ALLITERATION RHYME LETTERS IN THEIR NAME PRETEND READING	READING TO CHILDREN ALPHABET	PHONEMIC AWARENESS
1	GRADE 1-2	KNOW THE FULL ALPHABET LETTER/SOUND RELATIONSHIP	DECODING SKILLS	PHONICS
2	GRADE 2-3	READ WORDS AND STORIES RECOGNIZE LARGER WORDS	PRACTICE ORAL READING	VOCABULARY
3A	GRADE 4-6	LEARNING INFORMATION BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE BROADER RANGE OF MATERIALS READING FOR FACTS, CONCEPTS, AND HOW TO’S	MATERIAL WITH ONLY ONE VIEWPOINT	VOCABULARY COMPREHENSION
3B	GRADE 7-8/9	LEARNING INFORMATION BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE BROADER RANGE OF MATERIALS READING FOR FACTS, CONCEPTS, AND HOW TO’S	DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS ANALYSIS	VOCABULARY COMPREHENSION
4	GRADE 9-12	GREATER DEPTH COMPETING THEORIES	STUDY SKILLS PRACTICE EFFICIENCY	VOCABULARY COMPREHENSION
5	AGE 18 & UP	SELECTIVE ABOUT MATERIAL ANALYZE, SYNTHESIZE, JUDGE READING IS CONSTRUCTIVE	RESEARCH MANY SOURCES	COMPREHENSION

References

Carnine, D. W., Silbert, J., Kame, E. J., & Tarver, S. G. (2004). Reading development: Chall's      model. Education.com, Retrieved from         http://www.education.com/reference/article/Chall-model-reading-development/